Don't Miss the Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Expect to see about 80 meteors an hour as it peaks Jan. 2.-3.

What a way to bring in the New Year. The Quadrantids Meteor Shower 2013 peaks on Jan. 2-3. The Quadrantids come from an asteroid called 2003 EH1, just as the Geminids did in early December. Expect to see about 80 meteors an hour. Tips for best viewing of the meteor shower The meteor shower is expected to "last only a few hours," according to NASA.com. That means you should look for it in the the night of Jan. 2-3, not the night of Jan. 3-4. The best time to view the meteors will be between then and sunrise at about 7:50 a.m.  Earthsky.org reports the Quadrantids peak might be in the hours just before dawn on Jan. 3. "Face the general direction of north-northeast, but take in as wide an expanse of sky as possible. Watch from about 2 a.m. …

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Atlantis Takes Its Final Flight

Four astronauts lift-off aboard Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center on the final mission for the space shuttle program.

Space shuttle Atlantis rocketed off the launch pad Friday at the Kennedy Space Center and into space for the historic final mission for the program. The flight, which had been threatened by inclement weather leading up to the launch, lifted off nearly three minutes after its scheduled launch time. NASA held the countdown at T-31 seconds to confirm the refueling arm had fully retracted from the external fuel tank–which led to confusion among the thousands gathered at the media site–before the countdown resumed. With an estimated one million people watching along Florida’s Space Coast, which included hundreds of men and women from around the world viewing the launch as part of a NASA Tweetup, the three man and one woman crew lifted off from …

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Sherri Lonon

2:10 pm on Saturday, July 9, 2011

So glad you were able to see it!   more ›

Shuttle Launch Attendees Aim to Witness History

Land O' Lakes residents among the expected 1 million people who plan to see NASA space shuttle Atlantis take off for the final time.

NASA is set to embark on its final space shuttle mission this week, and people from the Tampa Bay area and all over the country say they don't want to miss it. Skip Coogan is one of them. The 41-year-old Bradenton resident watched his first launch in person in 1981 as a 10-year-old, grew up idolizing astronauts and has since seen dozens of lift-offs while living in Melbourne in the '90s. The self-professed "space geek," who now owns a computer repair business called Manasota Geeks, describes them in one word: "Awesome." "It’s like a star rising from earth," Coogan said. "I can’t really put it into words." He hopes his kids — Chloe, 6, and Skip, 3 — feel the same way after witnessing their first launch when Atlantis blasts off at 11:26 a.m…

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If You Go: NASA's Final Shuttle Launch

Going to see Atlantis blast off for the final time next week? Here's what you need to know.

Planning to attend the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis on July 8, or just thinking about going? First of all, we'd like to hear from you — e-mail Patch editor Sherri Lonon so we can talk to you for a possible story or to share your photos with us. And secondly, here's what you need to know: Why should I go? It's a chance to see history. NASA is retiring its space shuttle program, to be replaced with a new space exploration program focused on sending astronauts to deep space and asteroids. STS-135 is the final space shuttle mission. When is it? Atlantis is scheduled to blast off at 11:26 a.m. on Friday, July 8, but the time and date are always subject to change. As NASA likes to remind us, "Launching humans into space is a very …

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About Town

Land O' Lakes Company Wins Contract For Piece Of History

As we see our last launch of Discovery Feb 24., a local company is bringing some space program history home.

Matt Goldman was pleasantly surprised to hear his company, Pasco Iron & Metal and companion Green Tree Recycling, won the bid to broker one of the most historic pieces of equipment in the history of America's space program.  Now that the era of the space shuttles being launched from the Kennedy Space Center is in its final stages, Launch Pad 39B, which helped to launch 53 space shuttle missions, is to be demolished.  According to Goldman, it is one of the biggest, heaviest demolition jobs in Florida history. Some of this steel weighs more than 200 pounds a linear foot. Phil Corcoran, chief of marketing and purchasing for Pasco Iron & Metal, said this of the new venture, “The history of this project is not lost on us, and it’s why we’re …

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